THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Seattle, Washington, Thursday
July 29, 1920
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Hubbard Coil Runs Boat On Portage Bay Ten Knots An Hour; Auto Test Next
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Seattle Boy Inventor Makes
Good His Claims of Last
December When He Announced
Discovery to P.I.
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HUBBARD'S CLAIMS
If young Hubbard's claims are correct regarding the newest coil he has
perfected, and which propelled a boat yesterday, these are a few of the
things the coil would do without cost other than the initial outlay of $90:
Drive a large touring car at normal speed.
Illuminate a moderate-sized office building.
Furnish current for lighting, cooking, and heating for a large residence
Heat seven two room apartments.
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Alfred M. Hubbard, Seattle boy inventor of a device which for want of a
better name he terms an atmospheric power generator, yesterday made good his
prediction that he would drive a motorboat with the apparatus as a source of
power.
An eighteen foot boat, propelled by a thirty-five-horse power electric
motor, which obtained its current from the Hubbard coil, was driven about
Portage Bay on Lake Union. Among those who witnessed the demonstration was
a well-known local capitalist, the inventor's father,William H. Hubbard, and
a Post Intelligencer reporter.
The boat traveled at a speed of between eight and ten knots--silently,
except for the whirring of a chain belt which connected the motor with the
propeller shaft. When the chain belt was removed, the motor ran free at a
speed estimated at 3,500 revolutions [the rest of this line is unreadable
R.L.R.]
No Hidden Wires Found.
To guard against the possibility of ordinary storage batteries concealed
about the boat as a power source, instead of the Hubbard coil, both electric
motor and coil were lifted free from their blocks, but no hidden wiring was
revealed. The coil used as a power unit was eleven inches in diameter and
fourteen inches in length. According to Hubbard, tests of the coil show a
current of 280 amperes and 125 volts, which, he pointed out was equivalent
to approximately forty-five horse power, or sufficient to drive an
automobile. The current is pulsating.
The electric motor was approximately twelve inches in diameter eighteen
inches in length. It had been reconstructed in order to be used with the
Hubbard coil.
After his ride in the strange powered craft the capitalist declared that he
was frankly puzzled, but that he desired an electrical engineer in his
employ to make an examination of the coil before he felt free to discuss it.
Since last December, when the Post-Intelligencer first made public the
claims of the youthful inventor, he has been more or less in retirement,
perfecting his coil. He took up his residence in Everett where, with the
assistance of Everett backers he worked on his device.
A local capitalist agreed to witness a demonstration of the coil to
determine its practicability as a power source. The motorboat was fitted
with blocks on which to rest the motor and the propeller shaft geared for a
chained belt.
When the motor was first tried out after its installation in the boat it ran
backwards. So involved are the connections between the motor and the coil
that fully a half-hour's experimentation was necessary before the motor
shaft revolved in the right direction.
That the capitalist was frankly skeptical of the device was plain when
he,with two other passengers, boarded the boat at the Seattle Yacht Club
wharf. All the machinery that was visible was the coil and the motor, the
latter plainly geared to the propeller shaft. The boat shoved off, Hubbard
threw the switch, and instantly the boat began to pick up speed.
It circled about the bay and returned to the wharf, with never a slackening
of speed. The wires connecting coil and motor had begun to heat under the
excessive current, and, fearing that some part of the coil might give way
under the extra heavy strain put on it, Hubbard declined to permit the motor
to be run continuously for any length of time. It was tried out later
several times, after brief periods which allowed the wires to cool, and its
power apparently showed no diminution. No instruments were used to test its
wattage.
The capitalist admitted that the demonstration intrigued his interest, but
that he would wait for his expert's opinion before discussing it.
Following the demonstration, the young inventor declared that within a few
days he expected to drive an automobile with the coil as a power unit.
The Coil used yesterday had been built especially for the demonstration, and
is nearly twice the size of the coil Hubbard used in his demonstration last
winter. The large coil cost approximately $90 to construct. The inventor
says that so far as he has been able to learn its life as a power unit is
indefinite. He declared that a coil large enough to drive an airplane would
be no more than three times the size of the coil used yesterday, and that a
machine thus equipped could fly around the world without stopping, so far as
the power supply is concerned.
While the device has been patented, the claims for it are so broad that
Hubbard says he does not feel safe in making public his secret. In general,
he says, it is made up of a group of eight electro-magnets, each with
primary and secondary windings of copper wire, which are arranged around a
large steel core. The core likewise has a single winding. A coil thus
constructed, he says, is lifeless until given an initial impulse. This is
done by connecting the ends of its windings for a fraction of a second to an
ordinary[two words unreadable R.L.R.] -ing circuit, he says.
The manner of this momentary charging, however, constitutes the principal
secret of the device, according to the inventor, who says that while
machinists have built a number of coils for him under his direction, they
have been unable to "start" them. In the event the power of the coil should
diminish, it can be rejuvenated in less than a second, Hubbard says.
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Photo captions
1-- Arrangement of Hubbard coil and motor in boat. The motor is nearest the
bow.
2-- Alfred M. Hubbard, inventor of the coil used as a power unit.
3--The boat under way, driven by a motor which obtained its power from the
Hubbard coil.
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Photos by Walter P. Miller, Post-Intelligencer Staff Photographer.
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